To conclude a week of PC-specific coverage, Kotaku has (rightfully) chosen ORIGIN Systems as "the greatest PC developer of all time", with a quick retrospective of the company to help back up their lofty pick.

Origin was established all the way back in 1983 by the creator of the Ultima series of role-playing games, Richard Garriott, along with his brother Robert, father Owen and a fourth partner, Chuck Bueche. The studio's first game was actually the third in the Ultima series, after the first two had been published by Sierra.

Based in Austin, Texas, Origin would over the next 21 years produce some of the most beloved and successful video games to ever grace the PC, like the famous Ultima series of role-playing games (including Ultima Online, the world's first "big time" massively-multiplayer online game), the Wing Commander franchise (including the excellent Privateer spin-offs), the "Strike" line of theatrical flight sims and the two Crusader games.

Across these games and more, Origin released critically-acclaimed first-person shooters, role-playing games, flight sims and space shooters, and at one stage or another was home to famed developers like Richard Garriott (Ultima), Chris Roberts (Wing Commander), Raph Koster (Star Wars Galaxies), John Romero (Doom) and Warren Spector (Deus Ex).

No other developer even comes close to ORIGIN in terms of quality and success across multiple genres and series, so this is an easy pick for anyone familiar with the full history of video game development.